Four Raiders place at Beast of the East
Waynesburg Central’s Kyle Homet, Jackson Henson, Trey Howard and Caleb Morris placed in the 25th Annual Beast of the East Wrestling Tournament on Sunday at the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.
The tournament is ranked the third best in the country by WrestlingReport.com.
Henson lost a 4-2 decision in sudden victory to Pope John XXIII’s Joseph Aragona to place fourth at 138 pounds. Henson, the 5th seed, trailed 2-0 at 1:19 of the second period after being taken down by Aragona, but cut the deficit to 2-1 heading into the third after an escape. The senior tied the match at 2-2 with an escape in the third, but Aragona scored a takedown with 13 seconds remaining in the period to grab the bronze.
Henson suffered a heartbreaking 6-4 sudden-victory loss in the quarterfinals, to Christiansburg’s Marshall Keller, but defeated Lake Highland Prep’s Noah Castillo, 3-0, Northampton’s Devon Britton, 5-4, and Bethlehem Catholic’s Jarred Papcsy, 1-0, to qualify for the bronze-medal match.
Homet, who entered the tournament as the 12th seed, was pinned in 1:51 Bergen Catholic’s Christopher Foca to place fourth at 170. Foca secured takedowns in the first, and added an escape and takedown in the second before getting the fall.
Homet was pinned in his bout against Blair Academy’s Julian Ramirez, the top seed. Ramirez scored the first takedown but Homet escaped, secured a takedown of his own and two near-fall points for a 5-2 advantage with 55 seconds remaining in the first.
Ramirez escaped and scored a takedown to tie the match at 5-5 heading into the second. Homet escaped for a 6-5 lead but Ramirez scored a takedown and got the pin at 3:18.
Homet edged Delbarton’s A.J. Lonski, 3-2, for the opportunity to wrestle for third place.
Howard earned a 3-2 decision over Blair Academy’s William Kaiser to place seventh at 152 pounds. Howard, the 23rd seed, took a 2-1 lead in the second after Kaiser escaped. Kaiser escaped again to tie the match at 2-2 heading into the third. Howard escaped in the third.
Howard lost in the semifinals to Nazareth’s Sammy Sasso, the No. 2 seed. He won his first consolation match, 9-4, over Muhlenberg’s Stefahn Mayo, before dropping a 6-2 decision to Battlefield High School’s Zach Feight to move into the battle for seventh place.
Morris lost a 4-3 decision to Camden Catholic’s Lucas Revano to finish eight at 132 pounds. Morris, the 51st seeded wrestler in his weight entering the tournament, fell behind Revano 3-0 heading into the third after a takedown and escape. He chose down to start the third, escaped and scored a takedown to tie the match with 1:38 remaining. Revano escaped with 35 seconds remaining and hung on for seventh place.
Morris lost a 6-5 decision to Brecksville’s Gabriel Tagg in the round of 16, but moved into the medal round with a forfeit over Malvern Prep’s Micah Visuwan, a 5-2 decision over Blair Academy’s Michael Madara and a 4-1 win over Powhatan’s Collin Gerardi before dropping a 3-2 decision to Bergen Catholic’s Carmen Ferrante to fall into the seventh-place bout.
The Raiders’ Wyatt Henson won three matches in the consolations, but a 9-0 setback to Bethlehem Catholic’s Matt Lackman ended the freshman’s chances at a medal at 120.